Wealthsource Partners LLC Increases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wealthsource Partners LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 116.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 116,917 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,830 shares during the period. Wealthsource Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $1,884,917,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 19,095.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,778,922 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $508,113,000 after purchasing an additional 9,727,977 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 56,847,194 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,953,781,000 after purchasing an additional 4,571,857 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 170,483,451 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,858,320,000 after purchasing an additional 4,312,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 244.7% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,848,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $303,876,000 after purchasing an additional 4,151,749 shares during the last quarter. 63.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $188.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.33. The company’s 50 day moving average is $49.40 and its 200 day moving average is $51.01. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.76 and a twelve month high of $56.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $33.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.77 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 26.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.2 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 8th were given a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 7th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.30%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 1,558 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.94, for a total value of $79,364.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,961 shares in the company, valued at $1,780,913.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 4,674 shares of company stock worth $237,377 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $57.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 22nd. Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 25th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $59.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 19th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $57.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.50.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, offers communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. Its Consumer segment provides postpaid and prepaid service plans; internet access on notebook computers and tablets; wireless equipment, including smartphones and other handsets; and wireless-enabled internet devices, such as tablets, and other wireless-enabled connected devices comprising smart watches.